Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch

Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Process | PositioningpaperPart 1: Tourism in the Context of the Green Economy,Sustainable Development and Poverty EradicationFrom Rio to Rio+20: Tourism on the International AgendaBy Christina KampIn 1992 – at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) –in Rio de Janeiro the states of the world committed themselves to a sustainable developmentpath. In Agenda 21, the action programme for the 21st century, tourism did not play a majorrole. The principles of sustainability, however, soon found their application in tourism. Thenew paradigm encompassed all the important aspects that had previously been discussed withregard to the impacts of tourism. Tourism had long been identified as an ambiguousphenomenon. It plays an important role in the social, economic and political development ofmany countries. It has the potential to contribute to social and economic development,conservation, and cultural exchange. However, many hopes in tourism as a driver ofdevelopment have been disappointed. At the same time, tourism has many adverse impacts onindividuals, communities, societies, cultures, ecosystems and biodiversity, the global climateand local economies.For tourism to contribute to sustainable development in a meaningful manner, it must fulfilthe criteria of sustainability. The various dimensions – social, cultural, ecological, andeconomic – are closely related, interact and have to be seen and treated in an integratedmanner. Long-haul tourism in most cases involves flights or other unsustainable means oftransport with major environmental impacts. Therefore it is usually inappropriate to speak of"sustainable tourism" as such – and more appropriate to look at tourism in the context ofsustainable development.World Conference on Sustainable Tourism, Lanzarote (1995)An early attempt to take up tourism in the Rio process and to put it on the agenda of theUnited Nations was the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism in April 1995 inLanzarote. This conference was not held by the UN, but upon invitation of UNESCO and theSpanish Government. The outcome of the conference, the Lanzarote Charter for SustainableTourism addresses governments and the United Nations and includes both environmentaland developmental aspects.Sustainable tourism and biological diversityUpon initiative of the German Environment Ministry, an international Conference onTourism and Biological Diversity took place in March 1997 in Berlin. The outcome of theconference, the "Berlin Declaration" was the starting point of a process under the UnitedNations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). The parties to the convention decidedat their 5th conference in May 2000 in Nairobi to contribute to global guidelines onsustainable tourism under the biodiversity convention. These guidelines were then developedunder the UNCBD and adopted at the Conference of the Parties 2004 as "Guidelines onBiological Diversity and Tourism Development"1. Several pilot projects were started to1www.cbd.int/doc/publications/tou-gdl-en.pdf14